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Dubai police identify 15 new suspects in Hamas killing

Dubai police have identified 15 additional suspects in the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmud al-Mabhuh (pictured) last month, bringing the total number of people believed to have participated in the murder to 26.

AFP - Dubai police said on Wednesday they have 15 new Western passport holders, including six Britons and three French, as suspects in last month's killing in the emirate of top Hamas militant Mahmud al-Mabhuh.

This raises the number of suspects to 26 people, all Western passport holders, after Mabhuh was found dead on January 20 at a luxury Dubai hotel.

Police said in a statement that the 15 new suspects include three each from Ireland and Australia, and also include five women.

The new suspects had travelled to Dubai from six different European cities and Hong Kong, the statement said.

Police in Dubai earlier released the names and photos of 11 suspects in Mabhuh's killing who had entered the UAE on European passports -- six from Britain, three from Ireland, one from Germany and one from France.

The emirate's police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan said last week that some of Mabhuh's killers used diplomatic passports to enter the country.

Those passports appear to have been falsified or stolen, as they belonged to what appear to be ordinary citizens shocked to learn of their being linked to the case.

The use of European passports has sparked a diplomatic furore in which Israeli envoys in four countries have already been summoned for talks.

Khalfan has also said he is "99, if not 100 percent" sure that Israeli spy agency Mossad was behind Mabhuh's death, and added on Saturday that Dubai had evidence, including wiretaps, of the agency's role.

Britain's Sunday Times said the killing was carried out by Mossad with the green light and blessing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.